US Ship Arrives in Kenya Without Captured Captain
By VOA News 11 April 2009

US merchant ship 'Maersk Alabama' steers past ferry boat at entrance of Kenyan port of Mombasa, 11 Apr 2009

A U.S.-flagged cargo ship which was recently seized by Somali pirates has arrived safely at its intended destination in Kenya, but without its captured captain.

The Maersk Alabama arrived in Mombasa harbor late Saturday, with other crew members, and its humanitarian cargo, hours after pirates seized an Italian-flagged tugboat with 10 Italian and six eastern European crew members in the Gulf of Aden.

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers off the Somali coast, the American captain of the Maersk Alabama, Richard Phillips, remains held by four pirates on a lifeboat that is being trailed by a U.S. warship.

Somali elders said they were trying to reach the scene of the four-day standoff in an effort to help secure the captain's release. The pirates have threatened to kill the U.S. hostage if they are attacked and do not get a ransom.

Reuters news agency reported Saturday that sailors of a Panama-flagged bulk carrier were able to thwart off another attack in the Gulf of Aden by spraying pirates with water hoses.

There has been a sharp increase in pirate attacks off Somalia in recent weeks, despite several international naval missions to stop these.


Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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